Yes, I think it did handle it for a very long time. I don't know why the shift has occurred. Fortunately, the control that leaders exert has not been very dramatic until recently. There is this one in the 1970s, but you don't hear many others from the 1970s or 1980s.
It's only in the last decade that we've had much more control exerted in this area and that's what concerns me. That's why I think the proposed changes are helpful. I'm not sure it's going to solve the problem in the current drafting, but still I think it's very important that the parties be able to attract candidates and you don't have to sign up to every single item that the party has on its platform and say I agree with everything and will vote for everything or else. I don't think it should be that rigorous.
I think that we should be encouraging people to get in and have debates about what things are good and what are not. Some of the things in the platform can be enacted exactly as worded and others you might make some shifts and modify them somewhat to get them to appeal to a greater percentage of the population that's reflected in the caucus. Some of the members there are going to have different points of view.
We have this on a regional basis in our country and have had it since Confederation. Members from the prairie provinces sometimes have different views on certain issues from members in Ontario and Quebec. There's nothing new in that, not at all. I think it's a natural thing given the different demographics and geographics in which we live.
That's bound to reflect itself in the way the parties agree on proceeding on issues. There may be a difference between the parties, but there may be differences within the party too that result in shifts in the way the party goes and the way legislation gets drafted on a cooperative basis, even in the House.
For that reason, I think it's important that the member be chosen locally as the representative for that area, because his or her views are ones that appeal to people that sign up for the party and make the choices as to who the candidate will be in each one of the small demographic sections of our country—although some of them are quite large—on the constituency basis.